Professional knowledge & reflection.
Fiona has spent many years exploring what influences behaviour behind the wheel and how instructors can help people develop more effectively.
Insights brings together her thinking, experience, and professional learning around behaviour change, coaching, communication, risk, and learner-centred practice, drawn from her archive and ongoing work.
Why isn't this information out there... on tv or anything?
I wrote this in 2022. I was already working on the Speed Related Course I am launching now. When I deliver Speed Awareness Courses, people come up almost every time and say: 'Why isn't this information out there... on tv or anything?'
Then she said, ... "but I never found the need until now!!"
People tell me relentlessly that learners never choose a topic or goal for their sessions. With some techniques, though, it is exhilarating when they do naturally take that control.
Fix the feeling .... and the 'fault' will take care of itself
It is all too easy to slip back into my old habit of 'fault finding' rather than really delving into the thoughts and feelings of the Driver. Unravelling the complexities that motivates behaviour is fascinating to me.
You Are Being Brilliant Because You Are Trying So Hard to Help!
How many of us have had awkward and difficult situations with our drivers? How many of us actually notice just how hard we try to help! Fiona's response to an instructor struggling with a learner who repeatedly says 'I don't know.'
The Driver Training Industry does need change!
In my opinion WE as individuals are the ONLY ones capable of making those changes. The issues begin with how we are all trained to do the job from the outset. We are trained to be the experts - and then shaped into trainers that believe we should identify faults, analyse why that driver made them, and then tell them the remedy step by step.
That was SO an 8!!
In the early days of developing my coaching skills, I tried scaling with Nadia on her first turn in the road. She rated the attempt an 8. What happened next taught me that the number itself is irrelevant when a learner can recognise and fix her own mistakes instantly.
Intuition: How do we know that??
A rescue dog called H taught Fiona about intuition, play, and noticing the un-noticeable. A personal reflection that leads, as these things tend to, back to driver training.
The Anchor in the Present:
Supporting a woman who wanted to drive with confidence again. A personal account of listening, present-focused solutions, and one client's own use of an everyday smell as an anchor. Her story, not a technique manual.
But together we can sow powerful seeds....
An argument for why the driver-training industry needs to keep developing. Fiona's reflections on the Three Es, NDORS diversionary courses, Standards Check, the GDE, and the difference between telling drivers what to do and helping them develop self-management for safer post-test driving.
Guilty??
A retrospective reflection on guilt and the transition from instruction to coaching, told through the story of Z, a learner who could recall every manoeuvre she was coached on, but not the one she was instructed through.
I'd like to introduce you to Baz...
A flashback to Z, a new driver full of anxieties, and the day she introduced Fiona to 'Baz', her inner road rage daemon, and how exploring what drove the behaviour helped Z learn to self-manage the risks of road rage.
Fix the feeling .... and the 'fault' will take care of itself
It is all too easy to slip back into my old habit of 'fault finding' rather than really delving into the thoughts and feelings of the Driver. Fixing the feeling takes care of the 'faults' without a person feeling criticised or feeling resentment towards me.
A Facebook Post From One Year Ago Behavioural Change at work...
The stages of behavioural change in evidence during a Driver Training session with a new driver. So enjoyable when you let the Driver take control of their session and their learning is exponentially accelerated.
How to use the 'inner treadmill'?
During a conversation with a Dog Trainer, Fiona reflects on an episode of The Dog Whisperer and the analogy between a treadmill technique used with fearful dogs and techniques she has used with fearful drivers: just keep moving.
A review from an Emergency Response Instructor Trainer
A review from an anonymous Emergency Response Instructor Trainer on the Behaviour-Intention Gap and coaching in the blue light training environment, with Fiona's reflection on her work with blue light trainers.
Me, my BTEC Level 4 in Coaching for Driver Development, and how my Career has diversified and blossomed because of it
A question I am asked frequently is regarding the benefits of paying out for the BTEC Level 4 in Coaching for Driver Development. The truth is I was bored and frustrated with the job, and the BTEC changed everything.
Can You Change Someone's Else's Mind?
Fiona reflects on why bombarding someone with facts may not change their mind, and how openness, consent and a way to change position without losing face may matter more.
Fear – and 'taming' your inner-self when driving
Fiona shares how a learner used the Chimp Paradox framework (Steve Peters) to calm her 'Chimp', look further ahead, and trust her established car-control skills during a commentary drive.
“Sharing the Risks” – Risk Management Section of Standards Check
Originally written in a Standards Check context, this article explores Fiona's thinking on shared responsibility, changing instructor and learner roles, and managing risk throughout a driver training session.
'Working Memory' and how it applies to Driver Education
Some of us are better at using it than others. Some might refer to it as multitasking, but for now let's assume it is part of memory. Easiest example is when a person cannot keep walking at the same time as writing a text.
Standards Check Training for ADIs (Driving Instructors)
A 2016 reflection on preparing ADIs for the then-new Standards Check, including feedback from an instructor who progressed from Grade 4 under the old Check Test to Grade A after training with Fiona.
Coaching is the answer....
A 2016 personal reflection on Fiona's coaching 'Eureka Moment', written after an ADI meeting that reaffirmed her commitment to learner-centred coaching over pure instruction.
A simple question.... and a eureka moment
A coaching update following a Facebook question about using Siri and Google Translate with learners whose first language is not English.
If it's stupid and it works... it's not stupid
Fiona introduces 'Ruby' and her preference for learning how to do a manoeuvre.
How do you brainstorm.... ?
Fiona explores the many different ways her customers brainstorm and develop new ideas, from mind maps and toy cars to iPad diagrams and reflective logs.
Overview of the GDE
The Goals for Driver Education (GDE) are set out in a matrix which helps ADIs structure their coaching across four levels and three competencies. If we coach across all levels and columns, we are far more likely to produce self-aware young drivers.
Teach the way they learn
Fiona shares a quotation attributed to Michael J Fox and reflects that it applies to all of us, not only children.
Sharing the overload...
Fiona reflects on helping F manage an overwhelming task by sharing the load and building towards doing it independently.
Coaching for Driver Education
Fiona outlines her Coaching for Driver Education specialism, her BTEC Level 4 background, further aCCeLerate training for BTEC Levels 2 & 3, and her Coaching and Client Centred Learning courses for ADIs.
Delivering In Car Coaching for the BTEC Level 4
Fiona reflects on the privilege of delivering the In Car Coaching element of the BTEC Level 4 in Coaching for Driver Development to like minded, forward thinking driving instructors.
Another aCCeLerate BTEC Level 3 completed
Fiona reflects on delivering the aCCeLerate BTEC Level 3 to Andrea Polley and Neil Hughes, and looks forward to reading their assignments.
I am now a DriverMetrics accredited coach
Fiona announces becoming a DriverMetrics accredited coach and links to DriverMetrics' Insight into Action driver coaching information.
11 minute TED talk on fear
Fiona reflects on a TED Talk by Karen Thompson Walker about fear, and her pet project to understand fear better so she and her learners can tackle it together in the car.
Congratulations to Tony
Fiona congratulates Tony on passing his driving test at his first attempt and reflects on the pleasure of being part of his driving journey.
A wonderful working week
Fiona thanks everyone who was part of her working week and shares practical examples of adapting her coaching approach to five different learner drivers and a local small business.
Interesting short video: The case for emotional hygiene
Fiona shares a short TED Talk by Guy Winch on the case for emotional hygiene that she found interesting.
People learn best when they explore for themselves
Fiona reflects on a TED Talk by Ramsey Musallam and her belief that people learn best when they explore for themselves.
Bringing theory to life
Fiona describes how she helped a demoralised learner, K, bring theory to life through practical road situations, local signs, little cars, and hazard perception, turning theory from daunting words on paper into something real and achievable.
My own Driving Test fiasco when I was 17
Fiona recounts her own disastrous driving test at 17, her vivid memory of the experience, and how it shaped her later coaching approach to nerves, reflection, self-evaluation, and helping students manage test-day emotions.
Thinking about issues before they happen
Fiona responds to an ADI forum question about dealing with aggressive and irritated drivers on the Standards Check, reflecting on the value of thinking about situations before they occur, and the role of reflective conversations in developing safer drivers.
Standards Check & CCL Training Day
Historical archive: a Standards Check & CCL Training Day run jointly by Carol Morley and Fiona Taylor for ADIs, focusing on coaching and client-centred learning techniques for the new Standards Check.
My Standards Check Training
Fiona reflects on how her Coaching skills and qualifications since 2011 led her to offer Standards Check Training to ADIs, and her view of Traditional Instruction versus Coaching on a spectrum.
An unusual session... but it feels 'right'
Fiona reflects on a learner-centred session with a bright, independent student who over-thinks everything, and on how her own coaching practice has changed from pushing learners to 'keep going' towards respecting the customer's values.
A message I received this week...
A parent's message to Fiona about seeking a more holistic, learner-centred approach to their child's driving lessons, rather than a sole focus on passing the test.
I've done it again!.... I've taken my glasses off to hear you better!
Fiona reflects on how we all use different primary senses to interpret the world, from her Dad taking his glasses off to hear better to her sister's pitch-perfect auditory way of making sense of things.
The Big Learner Relay for the BBC's Children In Need
Fiona documents her participation in the Big Learner Relay for BBC Children in Need in 2015, a UK-wide driving instructor convoy raising funds for children's charities.
Why Coaching and Not 'Teaching'?
Fiona reflects on how we learn new things, from a mobile phone to driving, and encourages learners to recognise how much they already know from years of using roads.